St Philip of Rabanga

Saint Philip of Rabanga was the founder of the Savior-Transfiguration monastery, near Kadnikov to the northeast of Vologda. He spent the beginning of his monastic life in the monastery of St Dionysius of Glushitsa (June 1), and was one of his closest disciples.

Upon the death of his teacher and spiritual Father, St Philip left the Glushitsa monastery and settled in a sparsely populated area at the confluence of the Sukhona and Rabanga Rivers. The saint wanted to lead his life in complete solitude. The local inhabitants learned about him, and seeking his guidance to become monks, they began to come to him in the wilderness. Accepting this as a mandate from above, St Philip traveled to Rostov to the holy Archbishop Ephraim (March 27) and asked the saint’s blessing to found a monastery and to build a church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord (the temple was built in 1447).

Tradition relates that the holy founder of the Savior-Transfiguration monastery was extremely strict with himself, but lenient towards the infirmities of others. St Philip died on November 15, 1457 and was buried in the monastery he founded.

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The Orthodox Church in America

The Mission of The Orthodox Church in America, the local autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church, is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of Christ to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”